Tracing Quotations
Oscar Wilde? Jacques Joseph Duguet? Claude Joseph Dorat? Henry Ward Beecher? Gaspard Dughet? H. Jackson Brown? John Burroughs? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Hoping and dreaming are not enough; taking action is crucial. Here are two pertinent statements: The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention. The smallest act of kindness is worth more than …
Continue reading “The Smallest Good Deed Is Better Than the Grandest Good Intention”
Marvin Minsky? Joseph Weizenbaum? Pamela McCorduck? Edward Fredkin? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: Within computer science the discipline of artificial intelligence (AI) is focused on analyzing and constructing entities that display advanced cognitive behaviors. These entities are designed to learn, solve problems, and achieve goals. Critics of the field contend that machines cannot embody genuine intelligence …
Robert Frost? Anita Brookner? Thucydides? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous poet Robert Frost enjoyed socializing with people who had strong personalities. He highlighted a connection between freedom and boldness. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: In December 1952 “The New Yorker” magazine published a piece by Philip Hamburger who …
Malcolm X? Charles Roppel? Mariel Hemingway? William Crosbie Hunter? Shannon L. Adler? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: Some health problems can be ameliorated via collaborative action such as installing a water treatment facility, controlling a mosquito population, or reducing the transmission of a contagious disease. This notion can be expressed by using wordplay. When the letter …
Continue reading “If You Take the ‘I’ Out of Illness, and Add ‘We’, You End Up With Wellness”
Bertrand Russell? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent intellectual Bertrand Russell apparently expressed in a private letter a deeply cynical viewpoint about humanity. He suggested that the oppressed simply wished to become the oppressors, and the populace competed to become criminals instead of victims. Would you please help me to find a citation? Quote Investigator: …
Continue reading “Life Is Nothing But a Competition To Be the Criminal Rather Than the Victim”
Edgar Allan Poe? Richard Rowland? Terry Ramsaye? Laurence Stallings? H. L. Mencken? William Gibbs McAdoo? Jack Oakie? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The leaders of a group often face a variety of criticisms. Harsh detractors employ a vivid metaphor from the domain of mental health. Here are two examples: The lunatics have taken over the asylum. …
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Joseph Pulitzer? Alleyne Ireland? Lloyd Cory? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: The famous newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer once described the writing style he required from his journalists. He demanded brief, clear, forceful, picturesque, and accurate prose. Would you please help me to find citation? Quote Investigator: Joseph Pulitzer was the publisher of “The New York World” …
Greek Proverb? Indian Proverb? Marcus Tullius Cicero? Joycelyn Elders? Warren Buffett? Hyacinthe Loyson? M. Trottier? Question for Quote Investigator: A popular adage praises people whose selfless actions are designed to benefit future generations. Here are two versions: Would you please explore the provenance of this saying? Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match known to …
Groucho Marx? Ernest Bevin? George S. Kaufman? Cotton Ed Smith? Franklin P. Adams? Alan Hale? Walter F. George? Oscar Levant? Dear Quote Investigator: A comment which acknowledges criticism has been coupled with a harshly comical riposte. Here are three examples: “I’m my own worst enemy. ” “Not while I’m in the room.” “She is her …
Continue reading ““I Am My Own Worst Enemy” “Not While I’m Alive””
Robert Benchley? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: When you hear your own words from the past recited to you as a quotation the result is sometimes profound embarrassment. The humorist Robert Benchley apparently said that you could make a monkey out of a person by simply employing their own quotations. Would you please help me to …
Continue reading “The Surest Way to Make a Monkey of a Man Is to Quote Him”